Dickinson Co., KS AHGP-Portrait and
Biographical Record of Dickinson, Saline, McPherson and
Marion Counties-The County Poor Farm
Portrait and Biographical
Record of Dickinson, Saline, McPherson and Marion
Counties
Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1893
THE COUNTY POOR FARM, which was
organized in 1885, is located three and a half
miles east of Abilene. The grounds
comprising one hundred and sixty acres, were
purchased for $4,000, and improvements to the
value of $9,000 have been made upon it. There
is a large orchard, containing from twenty-five to
thirty acres planted in apple trees, two hundred
pear trees, and two acres in mixed fruits. Corn,
wheat and oats are raised, and upon the farm are
ten horses, eighteen head of cattle and twenty hogs.
Among the inmates of the home are six
insane people, all incurable.
The Superintendent of the County Poor Farm
is William Biesecker, who has been in charge since
the 1st of March, 1891. He was born in February
1862, in Knoxville, Knox County, Ill., and is
a son of James A. and Nancy E. (Welty) Biesecker,
natives of Pennsylvania. Our subject was
a horticulturist of Illinois, and followed that business
until 1887, when he came to Kansas and purchased
forty acres of land on section 1, Grant
Township, which he planted in small fruits. He
afterward was the owner of a farm of two hundred
acres, but in 1891 sold all except about twelve
acres, which he retains for the cultivation of small
fruits.
On the 13th of December, 1888, Mr. Biesecker
was united in marriage with Miss Corrilla Owens,
of Knox County, Ill., their union being celebrated
in St. Joseph, Mo. Unto them have been
born two children: Rhea J. and May Corinne. In
politics, Mr. Biesecker is a Republican, and in his
religious views he is a Methodist.
(c) 2009 Sheryl McClure for
Dickinson County KS AHGP